Super Cute Festival Guide Summer 2016

Super Cute Festival Guide Summer 2016

Festivals are great in Iceland, everybody knows this. It’s a giant roulette wheel of praying to the weather gods, but when it pays off, boy, they are worth it!

There are the big mega festivals that book all the big guns like Secret Solstice, Eistnaflug, Iceland Airwaves and Sónar. However, at the other end of the spectrum we have some smaller, more low key affairs that celebrate the benefits of smaller community gatherings, but still manage to offer big Icelandic names, mixed with smaller more diverse offerings, often set in wonderful rural, breathtaking locations. What’s not to love?

We are taking a look at a few of these events for the more adventurous music lover, these festivals combine a journey into a new and local community whilst still basking in the joy of Icelandic music steeped in summer vibes.

The festival, set in the local village hall overlooks the island of Grímsey, and given its time of year (June 10), the sun simply doesn’t go away. Dreamy.

Then we have The Melodica Festival, which celebrates local music scenes around the world as an international community of and for singer-songwriters.

The Melodica Festival is a not for profit event organized by musicians and music lovers for musicians and music lovers. Melodica currently hosts festivals in Melbourne, Reykjavík, Aarhus, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Groningen, Paris, Vienna, Trier, Oslo and New York City. All Melodica Festivals share a strong sense of community and aim to develop and strengthen the network between both local and international independent songwriters.

The Reykjavík edition has been annually hosting festivals since 2008 and this year features a line-up of independent songwriters from Germany, Austria, France, Australia and the United States as well as loads of local talent. This year’s festival will take place at Kex Hostel and Cafe Rosenberg on Friday 26th – Sunday 28th August; get cosy and immerse yourself in an uplifting weekend of music and community with locals like Svavar Knútur and Myrra Rós.

For the more punk of you out there, there is Norðanpaunk located in Laugarbakki, North Iceland. It’s ethos is ‘DIY at the end of the world’ and takes place over the long weekend of 29th July.

The Norðanpaunk festival is punk/metal DIY in the most basic and loveable way. At Norðanpaunk, the performers clean up the venue and camping area every morning. Their friends and fans paint the banners and cook the food. Everyone is there to celebrate individuality and all the weird forms of counterculture that you don’t normally find at music festivals. At Norðanpaunk, experimentation is appreciated, strangeness is celebrated, and being a freak is just expected.

Finally, we come to Breiðholt Festival, taking place August 14. Set in the sleepy suburbs of Breiðholt in Reykjavík the festival takes place in people’s living rooms, the local sculpture garden and workshop that just happen to be located there, as well as the local swimming pool and recording studio of Greenhouse Studios. It’s a totally unique way to see music, art, poetry and join the local community in celebrating artistry in weird and wonderful ways.

The full line up is yet to be revealed, but don’t be surprised to see people like Valgeir Sigurðsson, Jófriður (Samaris), Nordic Affect and Milky Whale on the artist list. Bedroom Community is responsible for putting on the festival, as that’s where they live. Breiðholt has a rich history of producing great talent, and this event is all about celebrating that.

So there we have it, loads to do on this fair island rock! Happy camping people!

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